Hire more staff to boost profits, SMEs urged

Ironically, lower employee numbers actually reduces cash flow and profitability in a business, says one owner, who has taken the advice of one of the judges on Shark Tank in the US.

Referring to New York real estate magnate Barbara Corcoran, Lachy Rowston – of CrossFit Creature gyms and The Mind Muscle Project podcast – says taking on more staff sooner rather than later has been a key to helping his business steadily grow.

“I think she’s only sold one place in her entire career as a real estate agent, but she hired a huge team, and as soon as she could afford to hire someone more, she would hire that person,” says Lachy on the My Business Podcast.

“For whatever reason, I just never valued hiring staff as much as I do now, and I think it’s super important. The bigger and better your team can be underneath you, it makes all the difference.

“If you can just hire the best team, then you’ll have an amazing business, and you’ll be able to separate yourself, and you won’t have to do it all yourself … if you can focus on the hiring, if you can get the best staff as soon as you can afford it, it’s going to make way more of a difference than you expect.”

Of course, hiring just anyone won’t have the desired effect of boosting your own productivity and earning power – it has to be the right person for the role.

SPONSORED CONTENT

Lachy says another lesson he has learnt from following the leads of high-profile entrepreneurs is how to identify the right people to incorporate into his business.

“I actually heard on a Tim Ferris podcast, he had the 10 commandments for any start-up business, and one of the commandments was: ‘Hire someone that you would work for’,” explains Lachy.

“So, keeping that in mind, I always make sure that I’m thinking about that when I’m hiring someone, and just when that staff member is progressing, would I work for you? Are you exciting? Are you better than me at certain things? If they tick all the boxes, I just know we’re going to have the best gym.”

Check out more inspirations and insights from Lachy and business partner Raph Freedman on the My Business Podcast below: